# Nate Smith

> Nate Smith is a San Francisco-based software founder and engineer, currently CTO and founder at Collate. He co-founded Lever, served as its CEO and CTO, and helped build the recruiting software company acquired by Employ in 2022. Previously a Google product manager, he led the 2010 Google Images redesign and authored DerbyJS and ShareDB. He is an Olin College trustee and former Y Combinator Visiting Group Partner.

- **Role:** CTO and Founder at Collate
- **Organizations:** Collate, Lever, Google, Y Combinator, Olin College of Engineering
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering, Olin College of Engineering
- **Known for:** Led Google Images’ major 2010 interface redesign., Authored the open source projects DerbyJS and ShareDB., Co-founded Lever and served as both CEO and CTO; Olin reports $123 million raised and a $517 million acquisition by Employ in 2022.

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Graduated from Olin College’s second graduating class with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering.
- **2010** — As a Google product manager, led the Google Images interface redesign launched in July.
- **2012** — Co-founded Lever, which participated in Y Combinator’s Summer 2012 batch.
- **By 2020** — Had served as Lever CEO, then CTO, and returned to the CEO role.
- **2022** — Lever was acquired by Employ for $517 million. In November, Lever announced his transition from leading the team to an advisory role.
- **2023** — With husband Chris Cheng, pledged up to $100,000 in matching support for the Olin Fund.
- **2024** — Returned as a Y Combinator Visiting Group Partner for the Summer batch and joined Olin’s Board of Trustees in August.
- **2025** — Launched Collate in January as CTO and founder alongside co-founders Surbhi Sarna and Jigish Patel.

## Achievements

- Led Google Images’ major 2010 interface redesign.
- Authored the open source projects DerbyJS and ShareDB.
- Co-founded Lever and served as both CEO and CTO; Olin reports $123 million raised and a $517 million acquisition by Employ in 2022.
- Became an Olin College trustee in August 2024.
- Smith and Chris Cheng’s Olin matching challenge inspired 285 gifts totaling $191,055.

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Collate launched with Smith as CTO and founder; Olin’s 2024-2025 annual report records a $30 million seed round.
- **2024-08** — Joined Olin College’s Board of Trustees.
- **2024-04** — Y Combinator named Smith as a returning Visiting Group Partner for its Summer 2024 batch.

## Links

- Website: https://collate.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nateps
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/nateps
- GitHub: https://github.com/nateps

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nate-smith
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-27